Thursday, August 9, 2012

Russia to ease foreign mining of gold, PGM, diamonds

Russia's gold reserves account for about 10 percent of the
global volume, second only to South Africa's, according to
ministry data. Its share in palladium accounts for 24 percent of
global reserves and in diamonds 35 percent.But Russia lags behind countries such as Canada, Australia
and the United States in exploration and development of
minerals, Sergei Donskoi, recently named minister of natural
resources, has said.The draft bill would allow foreign-owned businesses to mine
deposits of up to 250 tonnes (about 8 million troy ounces) of
gold, five times the existing cap of 50 tonnes set in 2008,
without facing additional regulation from the state, the
documents showed. (www.mmr.gov.ru)Current Russian legislation classifies gold reserves over 50
tonnes as well as any diamond and platinum group reserves as
deposits of "federal significance", which means the state can
ban a foreign-aligned investment that it deems is a "threat to
the state defence and security".Russia could lure
more than triple the current level of investment in gold
exploration to $1.6 billion a year by making small changes in
legislation and offering better incentives.The bill would bring Russian practice into line with that of
other leading mining countries, Lou Naumovski, head of Kinross's
Moscow office, told Reuters on Thursday."The fact that no government approval would be required
should give more comfort to exploration companies to start
exploring again," he said.